The
Chuckwalla
Chuckwallas are lizards found primarily in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Some are found on coastal islands. The six species of chuckwallas are all placed within the genus ''Sauromalus''; they are part of th ...
Mountains are a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
range in the transition zone between the
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
Geography and geology
The Colorado De ...
—
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...
and the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
, climatically and vegetationally, in
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
of southern
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
Geography
The range spans about , running in a generally northwest-southeast direction. It is bordered to the north by
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
and the town of
Desert Center, and to the south by the
Bradshaw Trail
Today's Bradshaw Trail is a historic overland stage route in the western Colorado Desert of Southern California. It is a remnant of the much longer Bradshaw Road, also known as the Road to La Paz, or Gold Road, established in 1862 by William D. ...
and the
Chocolate Mountains
The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in Imperial County, California, Imperial and Riverside County, California, Riverside counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The mountains stretch more than 60 miles (100 km) ...
Aerial Gunnery Range. The highest point is Black Butte, elevation . The Chuckwalla Range is divided from the
Little Chuckwalla Range by Graham Pass. The
Orocopia Mountains
The Orocopia Mountains are located in Riverside County in southern California, United States, east of the Coachella Valley, west of the Chuckwalla Mountains, and south of Interstate 10 in the Colorado Desert. The range lies in an east-west direc ...
are to the west, and
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to t ...
is to the northwest.
Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Area
Most of the mountains were designated by the
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
as th
Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Areain 1994. Motorized travel is allowed only on "cherry-stemmed" established roads.
The Chuckwalla Mountains, near the
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is Fault (geology)#Strike-slip fau ...
, rise like an island from a vast sea of sand and rock; within the walls of this "rock fortress" is a variety of landforms, textures, and colors. They include steep-walled canyons, inland valleys, large and small washes, isolated rock outcrops, and panoramic expanses of desert.
Flora and fauna
The Chuckwalla Mountains are in the
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
Geography and geology
The Colorado De ...
section of the
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...
, adjacent to the
Lower Colorado River Valley region. Plants include ocotillo, cholla, yucca, creosote, and barrel and foxtail cacti.
On the southern flank of the range lies the Chuckwalla Bench bajada region, an
Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a conservation ecology program in the Western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (F ...
, as it is frequented by the threatened
desert tortoise
The desert tortoise (''Gopherus agassizii''), is a species of tortoise in the Family (biology), family Testudinidae. The species is native to the Mojave Desert, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexic ...
. Also common in the area are the
rosy boa
''Lichanura'', the rosy boas, are a genus of snakes in the family Boidae. They are distributed across the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, ...
,
kangaroo rat
Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus ''Dipodomys'', are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed thi ...
, and the large lizard, after which the mountains are named - the
chuckwalla
Chuckwallas are lizards found primarily in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Some are found on coastal islands. The six species of chuckwallas are all placed within the genus ''Sauromalus''; they are part of th ...
. Other wildlife includes bighorn sheep, burro deer, raptors, snakes, coyotes, and foxes.
In the Chuckwalla Mountains, naturalist
Edmund C. Jaeger
Edmund Carroll Jaeger, D.Sc.,University of California, Riverside, Science Library (January 28, 1887 – August 2, 1983) was an American biologist known for his works on desert ecology. He was born in Loup City, Nebraska to Katherine (née Gunther ...
discovered the hibernating
common poorwill
The common poorwill (''Phalaenoptilus nuttallii'') is a nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars. It is found from British Columbia and southeastern Alberta, through the western United States to northern Mexico. The bird's habi ...
. (After his death in 1983, Jaeger's cremated remains were scattered in the same canyon.) The location is now preserved as the Edmund C. Jaeger Nature Sanctuary.
History
The Chuckwalla Mountains have had many visitors over the millennia, as they are situated near heavily traveled east-west routes and feature several sources of water, the most prominent being
Corn Springs
Corn Springs is a palm oasis situated in the Chuckwalla Mountains of the Colorado Desert in Riverside County, California, United States, seventeen miles southeast of Desert Center. Native Americans relied on the springs, and they engraved m ...
. Several successful
mines have been dug, including the Red Cloud, Aztec, and Granite.
See also
*
List of Sonoran Desert wildflowers
The wildflowers of the Sonoran Desert typically appear after a rain, some after the winter rains, and some after the summer "monsoons."
'' Amsinckia menziesii''
* Common name: common fiddleneck
* Flowers bloom March through May
Image:Amsinckia i ...
References
External links
Official Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Area websiteChuckwalla Mountains Wilderness Map
{{authority control
Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert
Mountain ranges of the Colorado Desert
Mountain ranges of Riverside County, California
Mountain ranges of Southern California
Bureau of Land Management areas in California
Protected areas of Riverside County, California
Protected areas of the Colorado Desert